Heroes of Silvatica City

The electricity in the air made Caoimhe's hair stand on end, and it seemed to pulse with the nervous pounding of her heart. "L-Leroy, please," she whimpered. "Please, Leroy, don't do this here. Not again. Please!" Taking him out would just create a bigger chasm between her and Leroy, and subsequently her and Will, but the last time he'd gone wild in the storage room, they'd been in debt for months! She didn't want either of those but... As quickly as she could, she sent a pulse aura at Leroy's chest.

The next day at S.H.A.D.E., Ire wasn't the first to arrive at her office. Honey was already at her desk outside of Ire's room, and she stood to greet her. "Good morning, ma'am," she said professionally. Her outfit was just as bland and work appropriate as it had been the day before. Ire's office was neater and tidier than how she'd left it, and there was a fresh black coffee on her desk.

"Please don't pass out," replied Aaliyah, putting a protective and supportive arm around Walter's waist. Her tail also pressed to the floor to stabilise them both if need be, even though she knew he was joking. "If you do, we wouldn't be able to take ya to Papa's Pizza. If it's still there."

"Alright," Squishy agreed, "but after school. We still have lessons to teach."

[Skip to the Monday?]

"No!" Caoimhe whimpered, quickly shielding herself behind a shelf of trays full of growing plants. The shelf took all of the damage and buckled from the impact. Very few of the plants survived. Caoimhe came out from her hiding place to look at the devastation, and just... Sighed. She couldn't do anything else, other than heal any of the plants that had survived and tidy up what she could. What had been destroyed would have to be replaced, and they could only be replaced with money. So after she'd gingerly propped up Leroy up against a wall, she went back out to the garden centre once more as if nothing had happened.

Honey went and stood in front of Ire's desk as she sat down and sipped her coffee. "I was always taught never to half ass things," she said, clicking her heels together like she had the day before when she was psyching herself up. This and the not half assing attitude both came from her mother, but Honey didn't need to tell Ire that. From behind her back she produced a folder and opened it. "I've got your itinerary all ready. Your first meeting is in... 5 minutes." She was pretending to be way more confident than she was and it was honestly exhausting.

They had to grab Walter's walking cane, which was a sad sign of his age, and then they headed out to the pizza restaurant turned buffet. "I could totally eat for two here," Aaliyah said, smelling the food from down the street and drooling. Ugh, she got hungry so easily these days.

They closed out the day like they normally did, and when it was finally lights out for the live-in students, Squishy and Ica could relax. "Another day done," Squishy sighed, sipping a glass of wine. It had developed a taste for it.

[Yeah let's go with that.]

Caoimhe grasped Will's shoulder tightly, which she didn't normally do. Usually she would let him mope as much as she needed to, but right now she wanted him to look at her. Teary eyed and nauseous looking, something was clearly wrong. "Will. I did somethin' awful," she said. "I don't wanna keep nothin' from ya. Will, I k-ki... K-kissed a guy. It was a mistake, it didn't mean nothin', I only love you 'n I'm so sorry, Will. I was stressed but it ain't no excuse. I just... Wanted to let ya know."

Honey knew immediately that Ire was avoiding using her name, and she didn't blame her. Perhaps she'd subtly let her know what her surname was so she could use that instead, rather than dehumanise her by calling her 'assistant'. As they went, Honey briefed her on the meeting ahead, with a few notes on things that weren't written down. It was very helpful for Ire.

Aaliyah was perfectly comfortable eating a lot more than she normally would. She had adopted a strict diet like Kyun while in space to keep her physique, but now she was pigging out so Danny Jr could get big and happy. She was going to give her baby all the food in the world, even before he was born, that she had been deprived of as a young one. "Hope you like spice, Dandan," she said to her bump as she ate another slice of jalapeno-coated pizza.

"I don't know about seeing Caoimhe and Will, but you ready my mind about the other part," Squishy said, smiling its weird smile as it got up to embrace Ica in its free arm. When the screeching started, it grabbed Ica protectively and dropped its wine all over the floor. "What is that?" it hissed.

Tenpo was in the kitchen attempting to cook something. She wasn't the best chef in the world, but she'd mastered mac 'n cheese, which she was making now. "Oh!" she yelped in surprise when she heard Zeke's voice in her head. It had been some time since Zeke had last spoken directly into her mind and she was surprised to hear it, if not a little put out. "W-welcome home honey," she said after she'd recovered herself. "Oh, guess what! Danny and Ali are back!" she said excitably.

"A friend," Caoimhe said. She saw the anger bubbling in Will's eyes and wanted to quell it as best she could, but if he was feeling wrathful then she'd rather take it than let anyone else suffer for it. "As soon as it happened I pushed him away, Will. I won't ever see him again, I promise ya. It meant nothin', it was a mistake."

"Thank you, ma'am," said Honey as she stood in front of Ire's desk. Her feet were killing her and she was sweating like hell, she wanted nothing more than to just sit down but that would be unprofessional as anything. "Glad I could fill in while Angela is away. Though... I don't think she'll be returning," she admitted. And she couldn't honestly blame her. Angela was a bit older and this job was exhausting.

"Mm," Aaliyah murmured in response, one hand idly in Daniel's hair and the other hanging loosely off the bed. She was utterly exhausted, and baby wasn't even that big yet. The pizza in her probably weighed more than D.J. did right now. "Mm, sweetie? Tell Dandan a story," she mumbled, getting into a comfortable position ready to sleep.

Squishy cursed and leapt into action, attacking the nearest spiders with punches and kicks, using its stretchy limbs to grab students being dragged away and freeing them. "Quick! To the bunker!" it instructed those nearby before activating a nearby alarm.

Tenpo giggled and fed him a spoonful from the pot. "Why are you in such a good mood?" she asked him. He hadn't heard about their friends' return so something else must have happened.

Caoimhe pursed her lips slightly and nodded. "Don't do anythin' to him," she whispered. Because if he was going to do something to Omak it meant he would have to do the same to her.

Honey tried not to look too relieved as she took her seat in front of Ire's desk. "Heh, that was nice of her," she admitted. "I only knew her in a professional capacity. I am glad to have taken her place, though. This job is so exciting," she added, wiggling her shoulders a little bit to emphasise her excitement. Her bust jiggled unintentionally from it.

Aaliyah cut him off before he got far by flicking his nose. "No, silly," she scolded lightly. "I meant a proper bedtime story. Tell him how we met when he's older." In truth, she wanted to hear a bedtime story too because no one had ever told her one and she didn't know any.

"Good spot," praised Squishy, patting the student's head. "Now I thought I told you to get to the bunker." It turned to Ica once it had gently pushed the student away. "I'll go after the guy, you stay here and protect the students... Please." They were an equal partnership so it didn't ever boss Ica around.

"Huh, that's strange," mused Tenpo. "But good! Now go sit down while I plate this up." As Zeke left, Tenpo began to dwell more on what Zeke had said. He hadn't even commented on the mac 'n cheese she'd fed to him. Wow, this silent Celeste had really got him thinking... Quickly Tenpo cut off her thoughts, because unlike Celeste, hers could be heard, as she went and sat down at the table with their dinner.

Caoimhe stepped in front of him. "Will, he's nothin'," she told him a bit more firmly. "I thought he was my friend but I guess he ain't. Please don't... Go after him." She'd been about to say 'don't make this worse' but this was solely bad because of her actions to begin with. Such anger from Will she'd not seen before though. Some of that had to be directed at her, and that made her feel even more nauseous.

Ire didn't seem to be the kind of person to sugarcoat or exaggerate, so Honey was deeply flattered. "Me too," she admitted, pushing a stray hair back behind her ear. "Um, I'm going to finish up some admin and then... Unless you need me for anything else?"

Aaliyah chuckled lightly, and listened to the story Daniel told both her and their child. Oh what a wonderful story. If only she'd heard stories like that growing up, she would have felt a bit less like a nothing. She was crying by the end of it and holding onto her small bump as much as she could. Their little one was going to be loved, so loved, loved enough to make up for the love she hadn't had. Though she had plenty enough love now.

And Squishy of course worried for Ica, though it trusted her abilities unconditionally. That was what love was, worrying about the other when there was little need to. Squishy returned a tender kiss and then broke away, heading towards the one who was making the spiders.

Tenpo took a slow chew of her food and stayed silent, both verbally and mentally as much as she could manage. Zeke had agreed to not listen to her thoughts, but that didn't stop him hearing them if she was having particularly loud thoughts. Thoughts such as wondering why he was thinking so much about another woman...

Caoimhe was confused. "What d'you mean I hid from you? I told you 'bout it right now, I never hid anythin'," she protested, still standing in his way. "Will, please, don't go after him. You'll both get hurt 'n I don't want anymore pain..."

Smiling, Honey just shook her head slightly. "If you're sure, ma'am," she said, bowing her head slightly and turning to leave the room. "Have a good evening. I'll see you tomorrow." Ire was still trying to be polite and invite her to dinner, but Honey was still refusing.

"Mhm," Aaliyah murmured drowsily in agreement, reaching up under her t-shirt to take her bra off and wiggle it out from under the material, then taking off her leggings. She used to only sleep naked or in sexy alien undies to impress Daniel when they shared a bed, but she was comfortable with him now so a tee and undies was good enough. She looked so comfortable next to him with her messy hair and her hand on her bump.

"And you must be the bad guy," Squishy quipped in return. There was a robot spider nearby dragging a student away, so Squishy stretched out its arm and smashed the spider, freeing the terrified student.

Tenpo jumped ever so slightly and smiled widely at Zeke. "Just tired," she told him. She had been working all day at Squishy and Ica's school, and had had to duck some paparazzi on the way home, but Zeke hadn't asked about her day so he wouldn't know that.

"Will, no!" Caoimhe protested the whole way there, pulling on Will and begging him despite it falling on deaf ears. Fortunately, Will had no idea where Omak lived. Unfortunately, the kiss had only just happened and Omak was only just leaving the garden centre. He was walking down the road away from there, his hands clasped behind his back as he stared at the sky. This really accentuated how enormous he was compared to Will. Did Will really want to do this?

[Wow Ire I thought you had a backbone. Next day!]

[Another skip here?]

Squishy had watched a lot of TV shows involving heroes and science fiction, and its favourite protagonists were always the smartass ones who quipped and mocked their enemies. "Cliched? You're that pot calling the kettle black, aren't you?" it goaded, while reaching for another couple of students and pulling them free. "If you're burdened with whatever, then I'm also burdened with keeping them somewhere safe where they can learn. Which is here. So you better do the stepping aside."

Tenpo smiled softly and nodded. "Yes. I'd like that." Why was she worrying so much? Zeke was just interested in this lady because she was an anomaly, but at the end of the day, he'd come home to Tenpo so all was right with the world. They finished their meals and Tenpo began to wash up the dishes.

"No, you don't!" Caoimhe protested, but obviously Will was oblivious to her now. Omak turned slowly and looked down at Will with an unimpressed expression. "Listen to her," he grumbled in a deep voice. "We don't have anything to discuss." In the years they'd been aware of each other's existence, the two had shared maybe one nod in greeting. This was the first time either of them had talked, though that was at first by chance and then because Omak built up this image in his head that Will was a monster who he wanted to avoid.

[You're making Ire really soft.] And indeed, she didn't see Honey there because she herself was early. Honey did come in on time though, looking immaculate but also clearly tired as she finished off her coffee and hastily chucked the paper cup in the bin before she noticed Ire was already there. She was humming something to herself. That stopped when she noticed her boss was already there. "Ack! Uh, m-morning ma'am!" she squeaked, clicking her heels like she normally did.

Squishy snorted and flexed its back, staying where it was standing but making its gut stretch unnaturally to the side out of the kick's way. "I see you're going to try," it quipped, wrapping its hand several times around Equinox's neck and flinging him to the ground.

Well, Tenpo's day had been quite good apart from the pap chasing her at the end, but this turn of events did put a damper on things. She was trying to ignore it though. At Zeke's request, she went to sit down and watched him doing the dishes. Yes, Zeke was a wonderful man and the only love she'd ever known. There was no way he'd do anything untoward.

Omak smirked. "You say that like she had no agency of her own," he said, turning around to face Will fully. He definitely dwarfed him both vertically and size-wise. Caoimhe stood between them and stomped her foot. "Shut up!" she snapped at Omak. "I've told you both, it was a mistake 'n meant nothin'. Can we please move on from this?" "You're right," Omak agreed, stepping back and holding his hands up. "There's no need to make this worse." He was a pacifist like Caoimhe, but Will wouldn't know that so it just sounded like he was antagonising him

Honey could see that Ire didn't want to be distracted so she went back to her desk and began to set up for the day too. Streamlining the itinerary, scheduling in a break because even the Iron Lady Ire needed one of those, and firing off a few emails to make sure everyone else knew about the day's plans and where they came into it. She liked to do this as quickly as possible, before the caffeine wore off.

"Ouch," grunted Squishy as it bounced off the wall and fell to the floor. It didn't really have bones to break so that was good, but it could obviously still feel pain. "Let's do this then, shall we?" it said as it got up and began to throw fast punches that felt more like licks from a whip than fists.

[Where to?]

"No!" Caoimhe yelled, but it was too late. Omak was slow moving, being a big guy, so he took the hit to his face being unable to dodge it. But he didn't recoil, didn't stumble, didn't even seem affected by it. "You're a nasty piece of work," he snarled, still backing off. Caoimhe went forward again to try to get between the two of them.

"Of course!" Honey said, hastily getting to her feet and making herself a bit dizzy. The leaping up also created an impressive display of bouncing bust and other jiggling body parts, which even Honey couldn't ignore. She cringed and looked down at the floor. "There's time for a coffee before you go, would you like me to make you one ma'am?" she fumbled out.

Squishy leapt up and over Equinox, but reached down with lightning fast speed to grab his legs and hopefully trip him up.

When Tenpo woke, the bed was cold and the house was silent. Normally it was still warm and she could hear Zeke pottering around as he got ready for work. Had he already gone? He'd never done that before without saying goodbye. What was up with that? Oh, right, she realised as she sat up. The new assistant was starting today, the one Zeke wouldn't stop talking about all of Friday evening. Sighing, Tenpo adjusted her collar where it had come a bit loose from... Activities last night, and went to make some tea. Today she wasn't teaching, classes had been cancelled at the academy but they wouldn't tell her why.

With the angle Will swung his punch, he caught Caoimhe on her right temple just above her eye in an upwards motion. Her head jerked backwards along with her body, but thankfully Omak was there to stop her falling. They both looked at Will in stunned silence. "Are you okay?" Omak asked Caoimhe quietly. She nodded stoically, covering her eye socket with her hand. "Good." Omak gently moved Caoimhe aside and then socked Will right in the face. He was different from Will in that he'd checked with Caoimhe first before punching Will.

Honey straightened up and went to the small kitchenette to make two mugs of coffee. She made Ire's like normal, but she added a little twist of her own. Sometimes she liked to sweeten her coffee for a caffeine and sugar double whammy, but she didn't do it with just plain old sugar. Sometimes it was brown sugar, sometimes a chocolate powder, sometimes cream, but today she wanted to add some honey to it. Ironically. Except she couldn't get the honey jar open. Ire could hear her straining but she just couldn't manage it.

Squishy rubbed its ear phalanges and scowled as it got to its feet from being stunned. Who knew how many students had just been kidnapped. They would have to do a headcount. They... "Ica," it hissed, running back towards where it had last seen its partner.

[Sure.]